Medical supply shipments are vital for the healthcare industry. Without them, patient care quality will decline and even hospital budgets can be greatly affected. When choosing a medical courier service provider, you should take care to make sure that they follow the best practices in medical logistics possible. This can benefit you and your organization on multiple fronts. With the right medical courier service, your medical supplies will be in better condition, delivered in a more-timely manner, and materials handling will be performed with the utmost care. Ask your medical courier service if they follow these best practices to ensure you’ve made the right decision:
Pharmaceuticals: Medicines and Drugs
Most may think of drugs as just being pills that sit in labeled plastic bottles at a pharmacy convenience store, but there’s a lot that goes into transporting medicines and drugs that your courier service should be taking into consideration.
Properly Packaging Medications and Drugs
Regarding prescription drugs, there are great regulations in place to ensure that they are properly handled, transported, and dispensed. Prescription drugs should be properly packaged in child-resistant containers and have other tamper-evidence measures to ensure that the medicine is pristine upon delivery. Packaging should also be designed to help protect the drugs from outside influences such as light and humidity.
For non-prescription medications, while they are not as heavily regulated as far as package design and more, they should still be packaged in a way to help prevent product damage and exposure to high temperatures.
When Shipping Pharmaceuticals:
When transporting drugs and medications, cooler temperatures should be maintained and regulated within the storage compartment of the delivery vehicle in order to protect the integrity of the product. This can be done either by using a refrigerated compartment as part of the delivery vehicle, or by insulated medication container with material that will help maintain a cool environment for the duration of the delivery.
Surgical Tools and Instruments
Surgical tools are needed in order to perform life-saving procedures all across the globe. That’s why it’s important that they be delivered and stored properly, and having the right medical courier can really make the difference.
Properly Packaging Surgical Tools and Instruments
Since surgical tools are used to interact with parts of the human body, it is paramount that these objects remain sterile and clean all throughout their time in storage until the time of their use. This usually involves using seal packaging or vacuum-sealed pouches, all free of tears or holes. To further protect these tools sealed in packets, they can be delivered in sterile bags, cases, or totes for that extra layer of protection.
When Shipping Surgical Tools
Just as it is important that the surgical tools remain sterile, it is important to ensure that the packaging around the tools remains safe and intact. As such, your medical courier should take extra precautions to ensure a proper delivery. One best practice would involve keeping the surgical tools and packaging in a climate-controlled compartment, especially one that reduces humidity. Moisture and condensation can lead to contamination.
Medical Equipment: Diagnostic Equipment and More
From MRI scanners and x-ray machines to life-saving ventilators, medical equipment is vital for the patients to get the proper diagnoses and care that they may need. But these machines have a lot of delicate components and so must be treated with care, especially when being transported.
The same can also be said for mobility and rehabilitation equipment such as hospital beds and wheelchairs. All should be treated with care while being delivered expeditiously.
Packaging for Medical Equipment
Medical and mobility equipment needs to be both well-protected while in-transit as well as while being unloaded and delivered to the healthcare organization. Whatever way they may be assembled, they should be kept in manageable portions for easy unloading and delivery to the proper part of the hospital. Proper equipment needs to be present to ensure a safe delivery as well, such as a skid, moving pads, or even an automatic stair crawler.
When Shipping Medical Equipment
Along with rush courier services, your medical courier should be trained in the proper handling, direct delivery, and positioning of your medical equipment. For equipment such as wheelchairs and hospital beds, even if they don’t need to be disassembled, your medical courier should have in mind a strategy to ensure that it is safely carried out of the delivery vehicle and taken to the delivery location safely. One example, for equipment such as hospital beds, or any other large object, your medical courier should have a two-man team. Ask if they provide white-glove services to test your equipment to ensure that they are operating properly after assembly.
Find a Specialized Medical Courier with Reliable Couriers
With the medical courier services of Reliable Couriers, we use only the best practices and beyond. You not only get the benefit of OSHA and HIPAA protocol trained drivers, but you’ll also have the benefits of real-time GPS tracking, direct delivery, and experienced bonded drivers. With same-day courier delivery services that can bring you your medical supplies in as quick as one hour, you can be sure that you’ll always have what you need when you choose Reliable Couriers. Call us or check out our website for more on how your healthcare organization can benefit from our medical courier services!
